Description
Book SynopsisThis text is a generational history of the young people whose lives were irrevocably shaped by the rise of the Nazis. Half a million Jews lived in Germany when Hitler came to power in 1933. Over the next decade, thousands would flee. Among these refugees, teens and young adults formed a remarkable generation. They were old enough to appreciate the loss of their homeland and the experience of flight, but often young and flexible enough to survive and even flourish in new environments. This generation has produced such disparate figures as Henry Kissinger and "Dr Ruth" Westheimer. Walter Laqueur has drawn on interviews, published and unpublished memoirs and his own experiences as a member of this group of refugees, to paint a vivid and moving portrait of Generation Exodus.
Trade Review"Laqueur draws on dozens of published and unpublished memoirs...the detail is always vivid and well chosen, sometimes very moving... no one could read this book without increased admiration for 'generation exodus'." -Matthew Reisz, Jewish Chronicle
Table of ContentsPreface /xi Introduction: Growing Up between Weimar and Hitler / 1 Escape / 29 Resistance / 64 Israel: Immigration Jeckepotz / 94 United States: Golden Country behind Paper Walls / 129 World Revolution, or the Dream That Failed / 161 Britain: Forever Refugees? / 189 The Great Dispersal: Hotel Bolivia and Hotel Shanghai / 215 Returning to Germany / 241 Portrait of a Generation / 268 Glossary / 307 Bibliographical Essay / 311 Index / 329 Illustrations follow pages 116 and 232
